1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network information analyzing method and apparatus for analyzing the status of a network made up of non-IP-based communication apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
A private network may often be made up of non-IP-based communication apparatuses that are based on diverse networking technologies such as the PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) or SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) scheme.
A non-IP-based communication apparatus such as a SDH-based communication apparatus may be able to manage network information by assigning a number to each transmission path using overhead bytes; however, such an apparatus is not able to assign a number to each channel within the transmission path.
Therefore, a non-IP based communication apparatus cannot determine the amount of signal traffic flowing within a transmission path. On the other hand, in an IP-based network, although the pass apparatuses forming the communication channel for a packet may be determined each time, since a communication channel may be changed (routing) when the amount of traffic increases, it may not be possible to determine on a regular basis which signals are to pass through which route at which amount so that management of information on communication routes and the free transmission capacity within a transmission path may be difficult, for example.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-217901 discloses a technique for assigning an identifier for identifying each wavelength or path contained within a WDM optical communication line to a frame of each wavelength in order to determine the wavelength or path at which an error is occurring and displaying the determination result on a screen.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-130559 discloses a technique implemented in a network interconnecting plural stations where a frame with an identifier is transmitted from a start point station and the identifier is identified at an end point station in order to confirm the reliability of the communication path.
In the case of constructing a private network using non-IP-based communication apparatuses by multiple vendors, since individual network designing information is set by each communication apparatus vendor, it is not easy for a user to manage and update information on the communication route of each line and the free transmission capacity within a transmission path based on the network design information (e.g., information on the types of signals passed by each apparatus) obtained from each communication apparatus vendor.
However, when such information is not properly managed and updated, the network status (e.g., the communication routes of each signal and the free transmission capacity within a transmission path) may have to be thoroughly examined from scratch in the case of adding extra terminals to the network to determine the communication route for the added terminal, and this may be quite a burden for the user.
Also, in the case where an error occurs in the network (when the network is not constructed according to design), since confirmation operations are limited to checking conformance with the network design set by each vendor, error detection may take a long time (when the user does not sufficiently maintain and manage the communication route and availably area).